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Thursday, July 7, 2016

The Development of the Ampitheater - presenter Paul Higbee

Paul Higbee

Paul Higbee presented "The Development of the
Ampitheatre" at the Lookout Ampitheater early evening on May 3, 2016. Rand and
Gayla Williams, current owners of the Lookout Ampitheater, graciously shared
the site. They opened the box office building for us to walk through
and we all sat in the left side amphitheater seats with a beautiful view of
Lookout Mountain.

The amphitheater was built in 1939 for the Black Hills Passion Play, with 6000 seats and
the longest stage in the world. Martin Thompson was the primary
contractor. The yellow color on the buildings was beneficial
to good lighting. The parking lot design to allow people to walk in at a
level with the seating was ahead of ADA regulations by 30 years.

The Lookout Ampitheater full stage

But the story
goes back before that when, in 1937, Josef Meier from Leunen, Germany performed his touring passion play in Sioux
Falls. That led to connections in the Black Hills, especially
Guy Bell, a car salesman, who contacted Josef Meier to come to Spearfish and
perform the passion play at Black Hills State College. Josef Meier chose Spearfish to construct the stage on the site in 1939. The first
performance had an audience of 1,100. There was no parking lot as people
were expected to park around town and walk in. The seating was pine
planks, made by the Hargrave Sawmill. Initially, there was no sound
system and the actors had to fully project their voices. A sound system
was installed in the 1950's. Initially, there were no trees on the
site, so the Garden of Gethesemane and the Tomb were staged with cut
trees.

During WWII, attendance dropped and the non-profit organization
collapsed. Walter Dickey offered an interest-free loan so that bills
could be paid. Instead of performing in Spearfish, the troupe took the
passion play on the road to survive. They returned to Spearfish in
1948 to begin a long run of performances three nights a week.

Audiences were often chilled from South Dakota cool nights or
sometimes wet from rain. The US Weather Bureau provided regular weather
forecasts. Motels offered Passion Play blankets. The motels also
had a concierge at the site for late-comers who still needed a place to stay.

Five to six million people attended the Passion Play before it
closed August 2008.